The Acts of Supremacy were passed in 1534 enacting that the King (then Henry VIII) was the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England. The acts gave the king power to redress all heresies and abuses. Research Acts of Supremacy
In grammar, an antecedent is the noun to which a relative or other pronoun refers; as, Solomon was the prince who built the temple, where the word prince is the antecedent of who.
In logic, an antecedent is that member of a hypothetical or conditional proposition which contains the condition, and which is introduced by if or some equivalent word or words; as, if the sun is fixed, the earth must move. Here the first and conditional proposition is the antecedent, the second the consequent. Research Antecedent
In geography, antipodes are two places precisely opposite one another on the earth, such as Barfleur in Normandy and Antipodes Island, south-east of New Zealand. At antipodes the hours and seasons are reversed, so that when it is midnight in summer in Barfleur it is noon in winter on Antipodes. Research Antipodes
The apollo asteroids are a group of small asteroids whose orbits cross that of the earth. They were first discovered in 1932 and then lost until 1973. Research Apollo Asteroid
The Apollo Project was the US space project to land a person on the moon in order to prove to the world the ideological superiority of the American system over that of Communist Russia. It was reportedly achieved by Apollo 11 in July 1969. The three-stage vehicle to carry the astronauts to the moon was code named Saturn, and the contract to develop the Apollo three-man spacecraft was awarded to North American Aviation Incorporated in 1961 by NASA. The first launch into orbit of an Apollo command module was made by Saturn SA-6 on May the 28th 1964, and the first manned flight was made after a fire during ground tests killed the three astronauts - Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee - on January the 27th 1967.
Controversy surrounds the supposed moon landing, with theories abounding that in 1969 it was technically impossible to land on the moon, and as a result NASA faked the moon landing, filming the 'landing' at the top secret military base, Area 51, in the Nevada desert while the astronauts actually orbited the earth for eight days before returning. This theory was later illustrated in the film 'Capricorn One' which told the fictional story of a faked landing on the planetMars. Research Apollo Project
Armenian bole is a red earth powder dusted on to the thin tissue pages, which separate the leaves of gold in a book of gold leaf, so that the gold leaf doesn't stick to the tissue. Research Armenian Bole
Astraea is one of the asteroids, discovered in 1845. It revolves round the sun in 1511.10 solar days, and is about 2.5 times the distance of the earth from the sun. Research Astraea
Aurora Borealis is a luminous meteoric phenomenon appearing in the north, most frequently in high latitudes, the corresponding phenomenon in the southern hemisphere being called AuroraAustralia, and both being also called Polar Light, Streamers, etc. The northern aurora has been far the most observed and studied. It usually manifests itself by streams of light ascending towards the zenith from a dusky line of cloud or haze a few degrees above the horizon, and stretching from the north towards the west and east, so as to form an arc with its ends on the horizon, and its different parts and rays are constantly in motion. Sometimes it appears in detached places; at other times it almost covers the whole sky. It assumes many shapes and a variety of colours, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood colour; and in the northern latitudes serves to illuminate the earth and cheer the gloom of the long winter nights. Research Aurora Borealis
Bath is the immersion of the body in water, or an apparatus for this purpose. The use of the bath as an institution apart from occasional immersion in rivers or the sea, is, as might be anticipated, an exceedingly old custom. Homer mentions the bath as one of the first refreshments offered to a guest; thus, when Ulysses enters the palace of Circe, a bath is prepared for him, and he is anointed after it with costly perfumes. No representation, however, of a bath as we understand it is given upon the Greek vases, bathers being represented either simply washing at an elevated basin, or having water poured over them from above. In later times, rooms, both public and private, were built expressly for bathing, the public baths of the Greeks being mostly connected with the gymnasia. Apparently, by an inversion of the later practice, it was customary in the Homeric epoch to take first a cold and then a hot bath; but the Lacedemonians substituted the hot-air sudorific bath, as less enervating than warm water, and in Athens at the time of Demosthenes and Socrates the warm bath was considered by the more rigorous as an effeminate custom.
The fullest details we have with respect to the bathing of the ancients apply to its luxurious development under the Romans. Their bathing establishments consisted of four main sections: the undressing room, with an adjoining chamber in which the bathers were anointed; a cold room with provision for a cold bath; a room heated moderately to serve as a preparation for the highest and lowest temperatures; and the sweating-room, at one extremity of which was a vapour-bath and at the other an ordinary hot bath. After going through the entire course both the Greeks and Romans made use of strigils or scrapers, either of horn or metal, to remove perspiration, oil, and impurities from the skin. Connected with the bath were walks, covered race-grounds, tennis-courts, and gardens, the whole, both in the external and internal decorations, being frequently on a palatial scale. The group of the Laocoon and the Parnese Hercules were both found in the ruins of Roman baths.
With respect to modern baths, that commonly in use in Russia consists of a single hall, built of wood, in the midst of which is a powerful metal oven, covered with heated stones, and surrounded with broad benches, on which the bathers take their places. Cold water is then poured upon the heated stones, and a thick, hot steam rises, which causes the sweat to issue from the whole body. The bather is then gently whipped with wet birch rods, rubbed with soap, and washed with lukewarm and cold water; of the latter, some pailfuls are poured over his head; or else he leaps, immediately after this sweating-bath, into a river or pond, or rolls in the snow.
The Turks, by their religion, are obliged to make repeated ablutions daily, and for this purpose there is, in every city, a public bath connected with a mosque. A favourite bath among them, however, is a modification of the hot-air sudorific-bath of the ancients introduced under the name of Turkish Bath into other than Islamic countries. A regular accompaniment of this bath, when properly given, is the operation known as 'kneading,' or massage, generally performed at the close of the sweating process, after the final rubbing of the bather with soap, and consisting in a systematic pressing and squeezing of the whole body, stretching the limbs, and manipulating all the joints as well as the fleshy and muscular parts.
Public baths were common in Europe during the late 19th century, but the first English public baths and wash-houses of the kind common in all cities during the late 19th century were established in Liverpool and near the London docks in 1844. In 1846 an act was passed for their encouragement, and a Baths and Wash-houses Act of 1878 authorized the establishment of cheap swimming-baths.
The principal natural warm baths in England are at Bath in Somersetshire (the hottest), and Brixton and Matlock in Derbyshire. The temperature of the Bath springs ranges from 109 to 117 degrees, while that of the Buxton and Matlockwaters scarcely exceeds 82 degrees. The baths of Harrogate, which are strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, are also of great repute for the cure of obstinate cutaneous diseases, indurations of the glands, etc. The most celebrated natural hot baths in Europe are those of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the various Baden in Germany; Toeplitz, in Bohemia; Bagnieres, Bareges, and Dax, in the south of France; and Spa, in Belgium. Besides the various kinds of water-bath with or without medication or natural mineral ingredients, there are also milk, oil, wine, earth, sand, mud, and electric baths, smoke-baths and gas-baths; but these are as a rule only indulged after specific prescription.
The practice of bathing as a method of cure in cases of disease falls under the head of hydrotherapathy; in the 19th century it was advised that even when bathing was employed simply for pleasure or purification due regard should be paid to the physiological condition of the bather. During the Victorian era in Britain writers were concerned about the potential dangers of bathing, and one warned:
'in many cases cold bathing should be avoided altogether, especially by those who have any tendency to spitting of blood or consumption, by gouty people, or by those who have any latent visceral disease or apoplectic tendency. Wherever the bath is followed by shivering instead of by a healthy reactionary glow, it is undesirable; and a cold bath in the morning after any debauchery or excess in eating or drinking on the previous evening is exceedingly imprudent. Delicate persons and children ought not to bathe in the sea before ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and in no case should bathing be indulged after a long fast. In cold streams and rivers additional precautions should be taken, the cold plunge, when heated or fatigued, being frequently attended with fatal results. Even warm baths are not wholly free from danger; apoplexy and death having been known to follow a hot bath when entered with a full stomach. As a rule the temperature should not exceed 105 degrees, and they should not be too long continued. Frequent indulgence in them has an enervating effect, though the majority of people need as yet no renewal of Hadrian's prohibitive legislation in this matter.'
The eminent author, George Black, in 1892, while generally encouraging bathing, and describing bathing as 'likely to be of excellent use and efficacy both in the prevention and cure of disease.' Also went on to warn:
'Baths should never be taken immediately after a meal, nor when the body is very much exhausted by fatigue or excitement of any kind, nor during nor just before menstruation; and they should be sparingly and guardedly used by pregnant women.' Research Bath
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Acts of Supremacy
